Why Isn’t FireWire 800 More Common?
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Gnomie Elie Hassan writes:
To the best of my knowledge, FireWire 800 is capable of 800 mbp/s, which is twice as fast as USB 2.0. If this is the case, why is it such an underutilized specification? I can understand that hardware manufacturers want to make their hardware compatible with as many computers as possible, so they choose USB because it is more common. I believe that a company like Apple, which includes FireWire 800 in most if not all of its computer lineup, should definitely support it.
It just seems strange to me that not only do iPods not ship with a FireWire cable, but they are completely incapable of using a FireWire cable to transfer files. I just don’t understand how FireWire 800, which is twice the speed of USB 2.0, is so underutilized and basically non-existent (try finding a FireWire 800 external drive in most retail stores — I did and was very unsuccessful).
I think to sum it up, I understand that USB is more universal, which is why most hardware manufacturers go with it. However, a manufacturer like Apple, that includes FireWire ports in its computers, should at least support FireWire if not make it the default option.
It is puzzling, Elie. Maybe some other Gnomies would like to contribute to the discussion? Comments are welcome!
3 Comments
Mike
March 4th, 2008
at 4:25am
I’m not at all sure I agree with what you are saying about iPods - from what I recall, it is only the tiny Shuffle models that lack FireWire capability, and as for external storage, the better WD MyBook models come with a triple interface: USB, SATA and FireWire.
I agree that it is a fast interface, but don’t forget that it was Apple who really made USB ubiquitous in the first place!
eliehass
May 15th, 2008
at 10:58pm
I agree, but current iPods can only use firewire to charge, and although apple made usb ubiquitous, if they include firewire standard they should take advantage of it.
eliehass
August 3rd, 2008
at 8:57pm
It would seem the reason is cost. To drive down cost apple removed features. One of them was firewire transfer from the ipod line. It’s simply adds cost so they stopped supporting it.